Page 121 of Twisted Truths

Instead of panicking like I thought he would, Levi simply shakes his head, letting out a low chuckle. “You think you know everything, but you’re wrong.”

“No!” I shout, losing my temper. “You murdered them so you could keep your illegal betting ring a secret. What I want to know is, why did you lie to me, Lev? Why did you tell me you got her out of the cult? Huh? How did that play into your little end game?”

“I tried,” he spits back at me. “Believe me, I tried to fucking get to her in that place. But it was impossible to get in there. You thought you were sending me in to save her, but I wasn’t going there to rescue anyone. I was going to take back control. I couldn’t let her threaten us and get away with it.”

Levi paces again, his eyes lit with the sick energy of his confession. “If we got to her, we were going to make it look like they’d done something to her, but we couldn’t get near her. She’d been locked up tight. So, we waited. Then, one day, Tanner spotted her leaving Dalton’s. She was crying. Probably thought Daddy Dearest would save her. We followed her home.”

I suck in a deep breath, knowing what’s coming.

“She was halfway up the steps when I grabbed her, covering her mouth with my gloved hand. Paul saw me from the window, but he didn’t see Tanner. When he opened the door, Tanner slit his throat.” He laughs and the sound makes me sick to my stomach. I swallow down bile as he continues. “I didn’t even know he’d stolen the machete from his drug dealer.”

“Snake,” I mutter.

“Snake,” he confirms. “We shoved her inside the house, covered in your stepfather’s blood. We didn’t count on Daniela and Rylan being home, but it was too late. Tanner told them he’d slit Zara’s throat if they didn’t do what we said. It was his idea to frame your sister. She was already covered in Paul’s blood, and it was well known around town she’d been involved with the Circle. A murder-suicide wasn’t too farfetched.”

My legs threaten to give way, and I lean against the wall to steady myself. Listening to him be so cold and heartless about what happened to my family sends shivers down my spine. How did I not see through his mask when I returned to Barrenridge? He watched me search for the truth and grieved with me at their funeral knowing exactly what he’d done.

He’s a fucking psychopath.

“Zara begged for her life,” he says with a sick grin. “She tried to play Tanner, saying something about his kid, thinkingshe could guilt him into sparing her. But we both knew she was lying.”

My body goes rigid. Every nerve, every muscle pulls tight like a live wire.

Even after she watched our family die, she still fought for her son.

“He made her write the note, said to keep it short. We didn’t want to give her a chance to incriminate us.”

The way he says it so casually causes my anger to boil over.

“Let me guess, you beat Tanner up so he couldn’t turn on you? You won’t get away with this, Levi.”

He snorts, taking a step towards me. “You think I’m going to let you bring me down? You’re not leaving here, Nash.”

I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone. Turning the screen, I show him the red recording dot as I press stop.

His expression cracks.

I hit send.

“It’s over. Shane’s already on his way.”

Levi’s face contorts, and he lunges before I can brace for it.

We crash into the wall with a bone-rattling thud, and my phone hits the floor and skids out of reach. His fist connects with my jaw, then my ribs, but he’s drunk, and I’m able to shove him off me.

Within a beat, I run at him, the momentum of our bodies throwing him into an end table, sending a vase crashing to the ground. I land blow after blow as he brings his arms up to cover his head.

Heavy boots sound outside before the front door bursts open.

Shane’s voice cuts through the chaos. “Nash!”

I’m yanked backwards, and I hold my hands up in the air.

Shane stands between us, angling his body to keep us from killing each other.

“Levi and Tanner killed my family,” I grunt out. “I sent you his confession.”

Reaching into my jacket pocket, I pull out the plastic bag that holds the compass and toss it to Shane who catches it, a look of complete shock on his face.